


nothing but dust

by everyones_favorite_idiot



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Depressing, Execution, Fangan, Fire, Gen, Hurt, Monokuma (Dangan Ronpa) Being An Asshole, Murder Mystery, Psychopath, Sad, Sad Ending, Sister-Sister Relationship, Sisters, Twins, Ultimate Artist, Ultimate Baker, Ultimate Psychopath, artist, candle, class trial, enjoy the fic wheeeeee, puhuhuhuhu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:41:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23338573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everyones_favorite_idiot/pseuds/everyones_favorite_idiot
Summary: "Please, don't go..."
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	nothing but dust

**Author's Note:**

  * For [starrshard](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrshard/gifts).



<Class Trial: Start!>

_ There are only six of us left now… _

_ I have to make this count… _

“Well, let’s start with the Monokuma File,” Evie murmured. Her voice tremored as she spoke, and her body was visibly quaking. 

I activated the tablet, a faint blue glow illuminating my face. “There’s almost nothing here. The only injury was a stab wound to the heart. The time of death is unknown.”

“Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Pick me!” Dani cried, her hand waving excitedly and her curly, pink pigtails bouncing up and down a little. 

I glanced at the Ultimate Psychopath reproachfully. “What?”

“Whoever the killer is is  _ so  _ good at it! I’m jealous! The stab wound was perfectly between the ribs! Wow! The blood was still sticky, so I’d estimate… hmm… right before dawn,” she decided. 

“Anything else of note?” Simon asked, blowing a strand of red hair out of his face. 

“Hmm… wow, I’m getting a lot of attention today… I know! The stab wounds were quite small, smaller than most of the knives in the kitchen,” Dani recalled.

“And how would you know?” Anna asked, turning her cold, brown eyes towards Dani. 

“I may or may not have used Leo for target practice yesterday,” Dani smirked, chuckling to herself.

“I-I bet Dani did it!” Evie cried, pointing at the pink-haired girl. 

“I… I’m offended! I take pride in my work! I’d never stab just any old person!” Dani declared.

“But who else could create such a precise stab wound?”

“Not me!”

“Pr-prove it!”

“I only  _ throw  _ knives! Sure, I’m good at it… but not  _ that  _ good. Oh, I wish…” she murmured.

“It’s far too early to be pointing fingers! There’s still lots of evidence to go over!” I refuted. 

“I suppose you’re right…” Evie agreed. 

“The most intriguing piece of evidence, of course, is something that would paint Evie as the murderer!” Anna declared. 

“What?” Evie yelped, her eyes going wide with terror. Her entire body shook with fear. “I didn’t do it, I swear I didn’t!” 

Anna’s eyes narrowed. “Stop lying! Of course you did! All of the evidence is right there!” 

“Would everyone stop bickering, please?” I asked, shooting a sharp glare at my sister. “The first thing we need to figure out is the murder weapon.”

Anna smiled confidently in response to my glare. “Maybe you should hear me out for once. I know exactly what the murder weapon is, too.” 

“Go on…” I prompted. 

“The murder weapon was a shiny golden letter-opener from Evie’s room!” she declared. 

“What are you talking about?” Evie cried, clearly panicking. 

“Didn’t you notice? The letter-openers have our names engraved on the handles! And boo-hoo for you, you left yours behind in Charlie’s room, covered in blood!”

“That’s impossible! I’ve been framed!” Evie protested. 

“The evidence is all right there! The blackened is Evie! Let’s just vote and get this over with!”

“I don’t have a history of being right about these things but… something feels… off about this entire thing,” Simon stated. “We’ve never come to a conclusion this fast before.”

“He’s right!” Dani chimed in. “Something is wrong here… hmm….”

“For starters, Evie would never hurt a fly,” Leo stated. His gaze was fixed on a point far off in the distance, and it was barely even apparent that he was paying attention. It seemed that the unpleasant results of the last trial, rightfully convicting Leo’s boyfriend as the blackened, had rattled him. 

“No, it isn’t that! Anyone can pretend to be someone they aren’t!” Dani smiled widely. “Like me! I do it all the time!” 

“Yeah, I remember when I first met you,” Anna grumbled. “‘Such a sweet girl.’ Sure.”

Dani laughed. “You got me there!”

“The blood on the knife,” Leo stated. 

“Hmm?” Anna looked up at the male. 

“The blood on the knife was all smeared around, like someone had done a sloppy job with a paintbrush,” he elaborated. 

“And who would be using a paintbrush here?” Evie asked, her voice trembling a little.

“Nobody used a paintbrush,” Anna said. “Leo, Simon, and I searched Evie’s room-”

“What?”

“Well, your door was unlocked. Anyway, we searched her room while Dani screwed with the body, and guess what we found on one of your shirts? A bloodstain. That would explain the smearing on the knife, would it not?” 

“I-I didn’t stab anyb-body… I swear….” Evie mumbled. Even she, the sweetest and most optimistic of people, seemed to be giving up hope. 

“Anna, wait! That’s wrong!” 

“What do you mean?” Anna looked up at Simon. 

“I mean you’re wrong.” His green eyes narrowed to fine slits. “Evie is no murderer. You are!”

“Ha! And where’s your evidence?”

“That wasn’t blood you found on poor Evie’s shirt! It was paint!” 

“What do you mean? I saw it! It was blood!” Anna said, confused.

“It was the color of dried blood, painted remarkably well. The shade was just right. But when I touched it, it was still wet. After a closer examination, I knew that it was paint for sure! You’re the Ultimate Artist and the only one whose tablet opens the door to the art room, so you are The Blackened!” Simon proclaimed.

A look of panic crossed Anna’s face. It was just for a second, but I saw it. Sisters tend to notice these things. But Anna always found a solution. She always found the way out before everyone else. 

Anna pondered for a moment, her eyebrows drawing closer together as she thought, looking at all of these abstract puzzle pieces for a solution. “Wait! That’s not the case! I ran out of red paint days ago! I mentioned it to Paris yesterday when I wanted to paint poppies in a field but didn’t have the right colors.”

I nodded. 

“Did you taste the paint?” Anna asked.

“Why would anyone  _ taste  _ paint?” Simon responded, his face twisting into an expression of confusion. 

“I don’t think it was paint! What if it was food coloring? The weird gel kind that looks like blood if the color is just right. Evie is the Ultimate Baker, after all. She almost got away with it, too. What a pity, Evie!”

Simon nodded, considering this new idea. “I suppose that makes sense,” He agreed. 

“The Blackened is Evie, Ultimate Baker! Let’s vote!” 

Then, Anna shifted. 

A streak of red and gold fell out of her jacket pocket.

_ Clang. _

_ No. _

_ No, Anna, no! _

“I did it.”

_ No. _

“I killed Charlie…”

_ No. _

“And I framed Evie for it.”

_ No. _ _  
  
_

“I never even ran out of red paint either. I just said that to my sister to give myself an alibi.”

_ No. _

“I’m so sorry, everyone, I’m so sorry…”

_ No.  _

“I deserve to die…”

_ No, no you don’t.  _

_ Please, don’t go... _

“Let’s vote…”

_ No, Anna, no… _ _  
  
_

“Let’s just get this over with…”

_ No, Anna, it’s not true… _

_ stop lying to everyone... _

_ I was the killer with you… _

  
  
  


_ No… it isn’t fair that I can live and she has to die… we both committed a crime… _

  
  
  


_ When we grabbed that knife, the both of us, and decided to kill for our escape, it was a commitment. It was us saying, “We live together, we die together, we go free together.” _

_ It was a promise.  _

_ When we grabbed it and stabbed him, we had done something never done before. We took a chance, and it was so, so easy. It could’ve got us freed. It could’ve got us killed. But this is much, much worse.  _

_ Please, Anna, don’t die… _

  
  
  


“Any last words?” Monokuma sneered.

“Thank you,” she turned to Monokuma, “even you. It seems I’ve hit a dead end. This is where my story ends, it seems. Paris, don’t blame yourself. This is my fault. If only I could’ve gotten the letter-opener back to my room, perhaps we would’ve been free.” Anna picked up the bloody letter-opener and looked at it sorrowfully. When she continued, her voice was barely a whisper. “And I’m so, so sorry.”

  
  
  


_ “If I die, I want it to be fire.” _

_ “Don’t be silly Anna, we won’t die. We’re going free.” _

_ “I want it to be spectacular. I want my death to be a work of art, something that will blaze bright like a star and leave something behind so even if I never get to see the world again, a little piece of me will.” _

_ “Anna, please, don’t think like that. We’ve created the perfect crime. Try to be a bit more positive.” _

_ How ironic… no, how silly… _

_ I thought we’d live… _

_ but look at what’s happened… _

  
  
  


I pulled Anna into a hug. 

_ I’m sorry…  _

_ I should’ve done better… _

<Anna Romanoff has been found guilty! It’s punishment time!>

A sudden force jerked Anna away from me. I ran as fast as I could, reaching out to her, but she was being dragged along far too fast, and I could not keep up. 

“This was a request from Anna herself, and I can’t help but oblige her final wish! I call it ‘Human Candle’! Puhuhuhuhu!” Monokuma cackled. 

I ran to Anna as fast as my legs could carry me, sinking to my knees at the chain-link fence that kept me from her. My fingers looped through the holes in the fence, and I strained for her, but she was too far. 

The entire execution had already been set up, and Anna was in her place. Her wrists and ankles were bound, and her back was to a large wooden post. Holes were drilled in it, and what appeared to be a long candle wick spiraled around Anna and through the holes, creating a giant spiral across the ground before ending in front of Monokuma. 

Monukuma casually lit a match and set the tip on fire. It began to burn, the flame flickering and dancing, gradually spreading across the thin, white rope. 

My gaze found its way to Anna, who looked at peace. Her eyes were closed, and a small smile rested on her lips. I wondered what she could be thinking about that would keep her calm in a time like this. 

The flames had almost reached Anna, and she had noticed. There was a ring of flames around her, and soon enough, the fire would claim her. 

A tendril of flame reached out and the rope binding Anna’s ankles caught fire. The flames reached for Anna’s skin and began to leave marks. Flesh blistered and bubbled and bled, weaving rivers of red down her ankles. 

I looked up at Anna’s face and she seemed to sense it, and her eyes snapped open. She was still smiling, even when she was wreathed in flames and burning, but in her eyes, I saw it. Her eyes were filled with tears, the what-ifs, the had-beens, the possibilities, the past, present, and future, the everything she was about to lose. The everything  _ we  _ were about to lose.

I shook with silent sobs and let the tears paint pathways down my cheeks, the realization that in a moment I would have nothing but  _ memories  _ of my sister breaking me apart. 

Through my blurry eyes, I saw the blazing star that once was my sister. 

She is… no… was a star, and she deserved so much more than this tiny fire to represent her. She was a blaze of bright light and fun, strong and courageous and bold and a natural leader, and without her, there would be only black. 

_ Anna would’ve liked to see the fire. Fire mesmerized her. If she were beside me right at this very moment, she would be talking about how much she wanted to paint this beautiful blaze of color and how she wished she had red paint left. I can almost hear her. _

The blaze burnt out. The crackling of the fire gave way to silence. 

There was a moment where nobody knew what to do, where everyone stood in silence and waited for some kind of instruction.

It had only been an instant, but I was hit with a wave of longing, staring at the spot where my sister had stood only a moment ago, and I wanted to see her bright green eyes and hear her voice and now there was nobody there. 

Little flurries, like snowflakes, of ash stirred and fluttered through the air, blowing towards the fence. Perhaps it was luck, but a small bit landed in my hand.

The wall opened up, and the outside world was within my grasp. I was so close, but yet this freedom had come in a way I’d never expected, never dreamed of, never wanted. 

Slowly, I approached the doors. 

“Hey, hey, hey, not so fast!” Monokuma stepped in front of me.

Beyond the bear, I could see the others gazing around in wonder at the outside world we had been detached from for so long. 

“What?” I asked, my voice cold. “Don’t you think I’ve suffered enough?”

Monokuma chuckled and stepped aside. 

I stepped outside, onto the soft grass, with the warmth of the sun on my face.

_ Is it all in vain? I’m here, but… _

_ I’m all alone now.  _

I looked down at my closed fist and opened it up, letting the breeze carry the last little bits of Anna away into the air. 

I felt tears pricking my eyes as I realized that Anna would never again feel the breeze or the sun on her face, never see the bright sky or hear the birds chirp. Never again would I see her smile or hear her laugh.

For there was nothing left of her now but faded memories.

_ Nothing but dust. _

**Author's Note:**

> puhuhuhuhu


End file.
